Aligning apparatus



4, 1953 B. R. HART Em 2,647,321

ALIGNING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 20, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l Kw Z w Aug. 4, 1953 B. R. HART ETAL V 2,547,321

ALIGNING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 20, 1951 2 Sheets-Shet 2 I v Barfan R. Han g v Glenn Hare I INVENTORS. BY @0222.

MM M1 Patented Aug. 4, 1953 um TED" oar-roe:

ALIGMNG APPARATUS rt n n; Hart and-G H rannekvcaava Application August20, 1951, Serial No. 242,668

01, crass) Claims.

This; invention-relates to new and'usefulinis movements and structural refinements in ali ning. apparatus, and the principal. object. of the.

invention is to provide .a device of, the character herein described, which may be conveniently and effectively. employed as guidingmeansfor laying bricks,v building blocks, or thelilge, this being, achieved in such manner. that the .line may be shifted easily and conveniently from one course to anotherwithout loss oftensionand resultant. loss, of accuracy.

Some ofthe advantages .of theinvention reside in its. simplicity of. construction, in itsv dependable and accurate operation, in its convenient 'manipu-. lation andin its.adaptability to economical manufacture.

With the. above. more important objects and.

Figure 4 is. a sectional view, tak n subst ntially.

in the plane t e line 4' n. i eur 3;.

Figure 5' is a side elevational 'Vi6W,f similartto that shown in Figure 3, but illustratingthe'con trol means for the ratchet pawl; r

Figurefi is a. fragmentary sectional detail of the reel constructi0n.;..

Figure 7" is "an endview, partially broken away, f th s ondlmi oftheapparatus shown inEieure 8:

Figure fi is-alongitudinal sectional view of the second unit of the apparatus and Figure 9 is an endview of thesecond unit, taken in adirection opposite to thatshown inzFignre 7, that is, taken in the direction of the arrows 9-9 in Figure 1.

Like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the aligning apparatus is generally designated by the reference character In and embodies in its construction a pair of coacting units, namely, the first unit A and the second unit 13.

The unit A embodies in its construction a housz. 22 WhiQhiiSz formed integrally with fan elon-v gatediextension 1 I4, the housing being provided with aipail' circmevable side platesJ Swhich are secured in-position by aplurality of screws 18, as

. best-shown in liigurerfi,

:- will. b lear p ar the housing I2 and consists of a hub-.memberZZ' and a; pairxotspaced. flanges. 24, oneofithese flanges being; positioned on a screw... threaded adaptertzfi with-which the hub memberllisprovided atoneend thereof, while theother flange is. positioned on a similar-adapter 2B formedin: tegrally with a stud member .30 which isthreaded into a bore 32 formed in the member}: as is.

An internally, screw. threaded bearing member as. is. provided on the adapter. 2B.,of the. hubv member 22 and hasna. diametrically-reduced; screw threaded portion Been which .is mounted .a hand crankeait beingobservedthat the bearingmemg ber 34 .andflthe stud. 3!! are rotatably journaled inthe side. plates. l6.;oi,.the housing .12, so. that by; simply rotating, the, handcrank; 3B, the reel assembly, Zlmay be.rotate,d,..within the house ing.

A suitablelinedllgis windabjle on the hub member.22 .oi the reelassembly, the inner. end of. this line beinainsertedrthrough cneof several aperr' tures 42 intctheboreiz cf. the. hub memb eore thestud tnisappliedto the hubmember durassembly..- A knot (not shown) is-provided attheihnerend..of .the line zwithin'the bore 32; so as to prevent the inner end of .the linefrom being withdrawn.

Meansar provided-fo lo k n the. reelas'ain rotation suchas would unwind the line therefrom, these'means comprising aratchet M which is secured by suitable v rivetsAGfto one of the reel flanges. 24; while a pawl.48, engageablewith the ratchet 44; is pivotallymounted inthe housing 1 2 upon-asuitablepin':

A.s uitable spring 52 hasone end-thereofgid in engagement 'withth'e pawldg'while the other end 56 of the, spring is anchoredi'xin asuitable aperture intthe housing whereby t urge the pawlinengagement with'the ratchet; However, a stud-5B, provldedwith' a--head*60, proj ects outwardly through an arcuate slot 62 in the housing, so that by simply depressing the stud as indicated by the arrow 64 in Figure 5, the pawl 48 may be disengaged from the ratchet to facilitate unwinding of the line 40.

The housing I2 is also formed with a passage 66 communicating with a channel or groove 68 provided in the extension l4, whereby the line 40 is extended outwardly from the housing to the unit B. In this connection it is to be noted that the housing is provided with a flat face 10 which is disposed at right angles to a face 12 of the extension l4, whereby the entire unit A may be applied to a corner of the work, indicated at W in Figure l. A cushioning pad 14 may be provided on the face 10 of the housing to abut the work, if so desired.

Referring nowto the construction of the unit B, the same embodies a housing '98 provided with an elongated extension 92, the housing 90 having a work abutting surface 94 disposed at right angles to a work abutting face 96 of the extension 92, so that the entire unit B may be applied to the opposite corner of the work W. A cush ioning pad 98 may be provided on the surface 94 of the housing 90, if desired. 1

I which is closed by a removable end plate I02, the latter being attached to the housing by suitable screws IM, and a tension spring I06 is Dositioned in the bore Hit, one end of'this spring being attached to a keeper bar N38. The latter is disposed in a suitable recess H9 with which the housing 90 is provided and is sustained in position by the removable end plate I02, as is clearly shown in Figure 8.

The other end of the spring N36 is connected to the aforementioned line 48 which extends into the housing 90 through a suitable passage H2 communicating with the bore Hi0 and a keeper groove H4 is provided in the extension 92 in communication with the passage H2, substantially as shown.

When the apparatus is placed in use, the units A and B are applied to the opposite ends or corners of the work while the line All is stretched across the work, this being facilitated by first releasing the ratchet pawl 48 and then rotating the reel 20 so as to wind the line 40 thereon to eifect the taking up of any slack therein. The line 40 is tightened to such an extent that the spring IDS is somewhat stretched and thereafter the spring functions to place a certain amount of tension on the line 40, so as to sustain the units A and B in position. It will be readily observed that both units may be shifted from course to course along the work, without any appreciable loss in tension and accuracy.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the claimed as new is: r I

-1. In an aligning apparatus of the type described, the combination of a substantially flat housing including a pair of side plates and havinvention, what is 4 ing a perimetric wall provided with a flat work engaging surface, said housing defining a circular chamber therein and a recess at the circumference of said chamber, an integral armshaped extension provided on the perimetric wall of said housing and having a flat work engaging surface perpendicular to and co-terminal with the first mentioned work engaging surface, said housing being provided with a bore extendin from said chamber to a point at the co-terminus of the work engaging surfaces, said extension being provided in the work engaging surface thereof with a longitudinal groove coaxial with and constituting a continuation of said bore, a shaft rotatably journaled in said side plates and extending transversely of said chamber, a reel profivided on said shaft, a ratchet h n The housing is provided with a blind bore w eel provlded o the shaft in said chamber and rotatable with said reel, a spring-pressed pawl disposed in said recess and engaging said ratchet wheel, means at the outside of one of said side plates for disengaging said pawl from the ratchet wheel, a crank at the outside of the housing for rotating said shaft, a flexible line connected at one end thereof to said reel and windable thereon, said line extendingoutwardly through said bore and passing through said groove, and anchoring means at the other end of said line.

2. In an aligning apparatus of the type described, the combination of a substantially flat housing provided with a cylindrical chamber and with a bore disposed at one end of and coaxial with said chamber, an integral arm-shaped extension provided on said housing in substantially parallel relation to the axis of said chamber and having a flat work engaging surface provided with a longitudinally extending groove, said groove being coaxial with and constitutin a continuation of said bore, said housing having a fiat work engaging surface perpendicular to and co-terminal with the first mentioned surface at the junction of said groove and said bore, the housing being provided at the outer end of said chamber with a pair of diametrically opposed recesses, a keeper pin positioned in said recesses and extending transversely of said chamber, a removable cover plate provided on the housing at the outer end of said chamber and sustaining said pin in said recesses, a tension spring disposed in said chamber and anchored at the outer end thereof to said pin, a flexible line connected at one end thereof to the inner end of said spring, said line extending outwardly through said bore and passing through said groove, and line winding means at the other end of said line.

BARTON R. HART. GLENN HARE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

